Garshuni

Garshuni or Karshuni (Syriac script: ܓܪܫܘܢܝ, Arabic script: كرشوني) are Arabic language writings that use the Syriac alphabet. The word 'Garshuni' was used, by George Kiraz, to coin the writing systems term garshunography to denote the writing of one language in the script of another.[1]

History

Garshuni originated in the seventh century AD, when Arabic was becoming the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent, but Arabic script was not yet fully developed and widely read. There is evidence that writing Arabic in Garshuni influenced the style of modern Arabic script. After this initial period, Garshuni writing has continued to the present day among some Syriac Christian communities in the Arabic-speaking regions of the Levant and Mesopotamia.

Characteristics

The Syriac alphabet has three principal varieties:

The Syriac alphabet is extended by use of diacritics to write Arabic Garshuni.

Garshuni script

Similarities

Occasionally, other languages such as Turkish, Kurdish, Persian, Sogdian and Malayalam have been written in the Syriac alphabet, and these are sometimes also referred to as Garshunis.

For the analogous Jewish practice of writing Arabic in Hebrew letters, see Judaeo-Arabic languages.

Today, Assyrians use the word 'garshuni' when referring to a spoken language written using something other than its corresponding script, i.e. spoken Assyrian written using Latin script. "Garshuni" comes from the word "grasha" which literally translates as "pulling".

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kiraz, George (2012). Turras Mamlla: A Grammar of the Syriac Language. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. volume 1, 291 ff. ISBN 978-1-4632-0183-8.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.